A powerful sorcerer has barricaded himself in his ominous black tower, waiting for an opportunity to sneak out with as much of his laboratory and riches as possible. His predicament has of course attracted the attention of the nearby warbands that now race to the tower to either help the poor old man escape the brutish warriors that plague this region, or give the heinous witchcraftwielding degenerate his just reward and thereafter loot his tower.

Terrain

Place terrain according to the setting you’re playing in. I imagine that this scenario would fit well both in Mordheim and Empire in flames, but possibly in others as well. Be sure to place the Black Tower centrally on the gameboard. The ideal should be that all warbands should have roughly equal length to the door of the Black Tower.

The Black Tower could be represented by any high enough building. The Tower should have only one entrance.

Warbands

Roll a D6 to determine who chooses starting area and sets up first. If any participating warband includes models with Infiltrate, or Hunch or similar skills, these models must be set up at least 10” from the door of the Tower.

Starting the game

Roll a D6 to determine who goes first.

Entering the Black Tower

The Black Tower has got only one entrance – a rather sturdy locked door. In order to enter the Tower this door has to be broken down. The door has Toughness of 5, and 3 Wounds. Up to two models in base contact with the door during the close combat phase can try to break it down. They can only attempt such a try if they have not used ranged weapons or magic during the shooting phase. A model may charge the door, and will gain +2S if the charge is successful, but the charge must be at least the models M inches long.

The Sorcerer

The sorcerer is naturally worried about these possibly intruding warbands. If any models come closer than 12” from the Tower he will attempt to cast Fires of Uzhul upon them. The sorcerer has his own turn after all the participating warbands have had theirs. Measure to see if any model is closer than 12”. If several models are close enough, he will cast the spell on the closest one. The sorcerer is assumed not only to have a 360 line of sight from the Tower, but also to be able to see models behind terrain (except Hidden models).

His version of Fires of Uzhul follow the description in the Lesser Magic list, with one exception: it is more powerful. If the spell is successfully cast, place the small blast marker over the target. Any other model wholly or partially covered (dice off if you cannot agree) is also hit by the fire.

Should the door to the Black Tower be broken down before eight turns have been played, the sorcerer is treated as being taken out of action. Also, immediately roll a D6. This amount of magic scrolls is collected and distributed among the models that are one inch from or closer to the Tower. Randomize which spell from the Lesser Magic list each scroll contains by rolling a D6.

The Magic Scrolls

The sorcerer has prepared a bunch of magic scrolls. These can be used by any hero, in this scenario or a later one. A non-magicusing hero can’t do anything else but read the scroll during his turn, but a wizard may move or run as normal, and still read the scroll. Each scroll is a one use item, and each reading of a scroll automatically casts the spell successfully.

If a model that’s carrying a scroll is taken out of action the model that delivered the final blow automatically takes the scroll if in base contact. Otherwise place a scroll marker where the model was taken out of action. Scrolls may be transferred freely during the movement phase between models during the game, as long as they are in base contact.

The scrolls cannot be traded. No heroes in their right minds would ever part with such a treasure.

Ending the game

The game lasts no longer than eight turns. Rout tests should be taken as normal if a warband has lost 25% or more of its members.

If all warbands but one has routed, the remaining warband is considered the winner.

If two or more warbands are still on the board, the one with the most scrolls is considered the winner. If no warband has any scrolls, for some reason, the game is a draw.

Experience

+1 Survives. If a Hero or a Henchman group survives the battle they gain +1 Experience.

+1 Per Enemy Out of Action. Any Hero earns +1 Experience for each enemy model he puts out of action.

+1 Per Magic Scroll. A magic hating warband (and only such a warband) like the Witch Hunters, gains an amount of Experience points equal to the amount of Magic Scrolls they possess after the battle is over. These points can be distributed as the player wishes among the Heroes, and represent the destroying of these wicked scrolls.

I agree with Ronin - it's a very characterful scenario! I, too, am baffled by the 8-turn limit.

Also, I'd recommend not allowing Sisters of Sigmar, Witch Hunters, etc. to read the scrolls (I can't see them reading heretical texts, after all) but get something out of the scrolls instead - either extra experience for destroying them, gold crowns for sending them to the Rock/Grand Theogonist, or something else.

Also, I'd recommend not allowing Sisters of Sigmar, Witch Hunters, etc. to read the scrolls (I can't see them reading heretical texts, after all) but get something out of the scrolls instead - either extra experience for destroying them, gold crowns for sending them to the Rock/Grand Theogonist, or something else.

Very good stuff!

He already added that, see:

folketsfiende wrote:

+1 Per Magic Scroll. A magic hating warband (and only such a warband) like the Witch Hunters, gains an amount of Experience points equal to the amount of Magic Scrolls they possess after the battle is over. These points can be distributed as the player wishes among the Heroes, and represent the destroying of these wicked scrolls.

This very much reminds me of a watered-down Enter the Necromancer's Tower (from the Nemesis Crown supplement), however the backstory is definitely different enough to stand on its own. Very cool!

My opinions:

Make it more clear that the wizard gets away at the end of 8 turns (two readers have already missed that).

If you're keen on the idea of warbands possibly helping the poor wizard, check The Bodyguards (Town Cryer 25). You'd need to give the wizard stats, and he would automatically come out and join his "rescuers" when they reach the door, and give them a monetary reward for getting off the board. However, I don't see this wizard trusting any of the scoundrels in Mordheim, and prefer the cleaner design of all the warbands just going for his scrolls.

A real issue to me is the scrolls. My opinions:1. Give +1 XP per scroll found regardless of warband.2. While the scrolls can be redistributed just after this scenario, further trading/looting of them should not be allowed.3. Selling should be allowed, netting 25+2D6 per scroll (same as the Dispel Scroll from The Wizard's Mansion, and less than the Wand of Phyrros from The Item Lost (TC 25). This can represent any magic haters' reward, along with any who cannot/don't want to use them.4. Only allow spellcasters and models with access to Academic skills to use them (simulating the need to be able to read), and take away the movement differences (hard to remember and note down).5. Casting should require a normal casting roll, with +2 to the roll (same as the Scribe skill).

Don't say "the game is a draw." If no warband wins by the eighth turn, they all lose!

One addition: to keep this from being an "I win" scenario for the Beastmen, and to get its reward more in line with its danger, put some traps around: there are 1D3 traps per warband playing. Every time a model ends his movement within 12" of the tower, roll 1D6. On a 3+, he has triggered one of the traps, resulting in an automatic S4 hit.

Have you playtested this scenario? It seems to me with the hostile warbands maneuvering against each other, sniping at each other, etc., that it is unlikely anyone will break the door down in 8 turns. Of course, that may be your point - that it is very difficult to "win" the scenario. It does sound interesting.

When the door is down and you decide to randomize scrolls, do you randomize between all friendly warbandmembers or every model? If so... I would just stand right next to the tower and wait for someone to kick in the door.

This scenario reminds me of another scenerio including a sorcerer and a tower.

Thanks for your input everyone! I will take some time to digest all your ideas and criticism, and return with a slightly revamped version.

In the meantime: some answers.

No, it's not playtested. I wanted your views about the general idea first so I could make it better.

It is indeed hard to get into the tower, that was the idea. But perhaps it's too difficult? Would the scenario be more interesting if it were easier? I thought that the scrolls would be interesting enough to get hold of to warrant a serious attempt to knock down even the sturdiest door, but I may be wrong...

The trap idea is nice, but my general experience with traps in Mordheim-like games, is that they are either easy to move around, this can of course be partly solved with a trap radius of say 3", or that you just send out some cannon fodder to clear them. Perhaps if they were magic traps that can be springed over and over, and fewer...